National Route 1 ( vi, Quốc lộ 1 (or abbrv. QL.1) or Đường 1, links=no), also known as National Route 1A, is the trans-Vietnam highway. The route begins at km 0 at Hữu Nghị Quan Border Gate near the China-Vietnam border, runs the length of the country connecting major cities including Hanoi,

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

and

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, and ends at km 2301.34 at

Năm Căn Năm Căn is a commune-level town (''Thị trấn'') and capital town of Năm Căn District, Cà Mau Province, in Vietnam. Nam Can is 50 km south of Cà Mau City, the provincial capital. The town is located on the river. Vinashin , forme ...

township in Cà Mau Province.

Road layout

National Route 1 runs across provinces and cities of Vietnam: * Lạng Sơn (km 16) * Bắc Giang (km 119) *

Bắc Ninh Bắc Ninh () is a city in the northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a population of 501,199 in N ...

(km 139) *City of Hanoi (the capital) (km 170) * Phủ Lý (km 229, Province of Hà Nam) *

Ninh Bình Ninh Bình () is a small city in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. It is the capital of Ninh Bình Province. Geography Ninh Bình Province is located in northern Vietnam comprising 48 square kilometres; the 2007 city population was 130,517 ...

(km 263) *

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh ...

(km 323) * Vinh (km 461, Nghệ An) *

Hà Tĩnh Hà Tĩnh () is a city in Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 236. It is the capital of Hà Tĩnh Province, and lies in the North Central Coast region. It is located on National Highway 1A. The Vietnamese capital Hanoi ...

(km 510) * Đồng Hới (km 658, province of Quảng Bình) *

Đông Hà Đông Hà () is the capital of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam. Đông Hà is situated at the crossroads of National Highway 1A and Route 9, part of the East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC). It lies on the North–South Railway (Reunificatio ...

(km 750, province of

Quảng Trị Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà. History The Sino-Vietnamese name Quả ...

) *City of Huế (km 824, province of Thừa Thiên–Huế) *City of

(km 929) * Tam Kỳ (km 991, province of Quảng Nam) * Quảng Ngãi (km 1054) *via 1D:

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. His ...

(km 1232, province of Bình Định) * Tuy Hòa (km 1329, province of Phú Yên) *via 1C: Nha Trang (km 1450, province of Khánh Hòa) *

Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, commonly known as Phan Rang, is a city in Vietnam and the capital of Ninh Thuận Province. The community has a population of 161,000 (2004), of which 91,000 (2004) live in the main city. The name ''Phan Rang'' is the V ...

(km 1528, province of Ninh Thuận) * Phan Thiết (km 1701, province of Bình Thuận) * Biên Hòa (km 1867, province of Đồng Nai) *

(km 1889) *

Tân An Tân An is the capital city of Long An Province in Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It was upgraded from town status to city status on 26 August 2009. The population of Tân An is 165,214 as of 2009, with an area of 81.79 km2. It comprises n ...

(km 1936, province of Long An) *

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majorit ...

(km 1959, province of

Tiền Giang The term ''tiền'' ( Hán tự: 錢) is used to refer to various currency-related concepts used in Vietnamese history. The name is a cognate with the Chinese ''qián'' (錢), a unit of weight called " mace" in English. It can refer to a unit o ...

) *

Vĩnh Long Vĩnh Long () is a city and the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Vĩnh Long covers and has a population of 147,039 (as of 2009). The name was spelled 永隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the former Hán Nôm writing syst ...

(km 2024) * Cần Thơ City (km 2058) * Hậu Giang Province *

Sóc Trăng Sóc Trăng () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Sóc Trăng Province. It was upgraded from a town (thị xã) to a city following decree 22/2007/NĐ-CP on 8 February 2007. Name The name is believed to be derived from the Khmer langu ...

(km 2119, province of

) * Bạc Liêu (km 2176) * Cà Mau (km 2236, province of Cà Mau)

Specifications

*Total length 2,300.45 km Vietnam Road Atlas (Tập Bản đồ Giao thông Đường bộ Việt Nam). Cartographic Publishing House (Vietnam), 2004 *Road width: 10–12 m *Road surface: paved with asphalt *Total bridges: 874 bridges, bridge load varies from 25 to 30 metric tonnes

History

US Army tank on QL-1 near Bong Son, Vietnam circa 1968

The National Route 1 was constructed by the French colonists in early 20th century. It has been upgraded recently by Japanese ODA as well as loans from World Bank. During both the First Indochina War and Second Indochina War (the Vietnam War), Road 1A was the site of a number of battles between Vietnamese forces and French or American troops. One of the most notable engagements was the French '' Operation Camargue'' in 1953. During the Republic of Vietnam regime (1954-1975), there are two divided sections of the main highway from Quang Tri to Ba Xuyen (Ca Mau): QL-1 (National Highway 1) and QL-4 (National Highway 4). Extensive upgrade work was done on the QL-1, and QL-19 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the 2nd Indo China War. In 1966 the

19th Engineer Battalion The 19th Engineer Battalion is a United States Army combat engineering unit. This unit provides general engineering support during military operations. It is an Echelon Above Brigade (EAB) engineer unit, composed of five-line companies (15th Con ...

began to "upgrade highway QL-1 from virtually a dirt trail, to a class 31 all-weather road, from Qui Nhon north to

Bong Son A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis (drug), cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the gas flows from the lower port on the left to the upper po ...

." By 1970, the QL-1 had been upgraded all the way to

Mo Duc Mo or MO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories'' TV series * Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel ''Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke * Mo, in the webcomic '' Jesus and Mo'' * Mo, the ...

. QL-1 bypass the route around Saigon-Bien Hoa. In the Mekong Delta, NH4 (now National Highway 1A) stretches distance of Long An province to Ba Xuyen (Ca Mau) province.

Future

The central section of the highway, from Hanoi to Cần Thơ, is planned to be duplicated by the North-South Expressway.

References

{{Highways in Vietnam AH1 1